Studlagil basalt column canyon, East Iceland

Studlagil Canyon is an impressive river canyon with basalt columns. It is located in East Iceland. 

The Jokulsa a Dal (Jokla) river in East Iceland runs through the valley of Jokuldalur. It used to be Iceland’s longest glacial river and one of the most sediment heavy. Water comes from the largest glacier in Iceland. Then the Halslon Reservoir was constructed. It was formed by 3 different concrete faced, rock filled embankment dams and is the largest of its type in Europe. The reservoir began to fill in 2006. Water from the river was diverted to Flotsdalur station the power the Karahnjukar hydropower plant and an aluminium smelter. Aluminium is imported to Iceland for smelting as power is so cheap. A lot of data centres have also started in Iceland.

It was only after 2006 - 2009 that the water level dropped signficantly enough to reveal basalt columns and cliffs. But it didn't become known until 2016 when an Icelandic photographer and travel writer published material about the canyon. It then began to get popular and become a tourist attraction.

The easiest access is from the west or left bank. There is no charge to go in, but there is a charge for vehicles entering the car park. The is access from the east bank, but this entails a 5 km walk from the car park. First view from the observation platform at the car park -

The east bank path -

It is a basalt column canyon. The hexagonal basalt columns were formed by the slow cooling and contraction of thick lava flows from volcanic activity. The Studlagil columns are some of the largest and best in Iceland. They rise several metres from the river bed.

The milky turquoise blue river flows through the valley. The colour is from the glacial silt suspended in the water. Before the river was dammed, it was sediment heavy and muddy brown. 

From the car park several long flights of metal steps lead down to a viewpoint over the canyon. There are trails further down with viewing platforms down and eventually you get to the last viewing platform before steps down to the river bank. It was so impressive.  

View from river level -

Looking back at the bottom staircase with a viewing platform on the rocky pillar -

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See my blog of the basalt columns on the south coast of Iceland.

My blog of the Giants Causeway basalt columns in Northern Ireland.

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Runavik, Faroe Islands

 In Sept 2026 my cruise ship stopped at Runavik in the Faroe Islands. On previous cruises I had been to Torshavn and Klaksvik, so it was nice to stop at a place new to me. 

The Faroe Islands are a series of volcanic islands between Norway, Scotland and Iceland in the North Atlantic. They are self-governing but part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Runavik is on the southern end of the island Eysturoy, which is the second largest of the Faroe islands. It is close to the sea end of Skalafjordur fjord. The western side of the fjord at 7.15 am and a church on the eastern side -

The white "hoops" visible above the water line mark the entrance to one of the many road tunnels -

Another road tunnel entrance -

There was no local bus that coincided with our visit on a Sunday, so I decided to explore the place on foot. At various points around the town, young locals were available to help with any questions -

I walked through the town, there are various displays of old boats and info about the fishing industry 

I set off for Toftavatn, the 4th largest natural lake in the Faroes. A Muscovy duck -

Note all the white in the grass, this is cotton grass, Eriophorum, from the sedge family -

A small part of the lake. The path only goes around this section and crosses the lake by a causeway as can be seen in the above map. I did a clockwise route.

Peat -

View from across the causeway -

I decided to walk up the hill towards Toftir as there were some interesting rocks up on a small cliff -

Walking through the village I was surprised to see some houses had turf roofs -

It was a very pleasant walk. I had started out wearing several layers, with hat, scarf and gloves, but by the time I reached the top of the hill I had removed several items. The sun was lovely and the weather just perfect.

A view of Toftir and the hill I had walked over, taken from the ship as we were sailing out -

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See my 2022 blog on turf houses .

High Salvington windmill, Sussex

High Salvington windmill is located on a hill outside Worthing, West Sussex. The hill is west of the Findon Valley and the hill on the other side of the valley is where Cissbury Ring is located.

The windmill is a post mill, built around 1756. It ceased working in 1897. After Worthing council bought it to save it as an example of a Sussex post mill, in 1976 a restoration trust began to restore it to full working order. Now all the machinery has been reinstalled and stone-ground flour is milled regularly. 

The black mill is quite an impressive site. Currently 2 of the sails are being restored.

It is the first post mill I have visited, as all the others around the London area have been tower aka smock mills.  The day I went there was also a craft fair so the place was quite busy.

These photos show the entrance with the stairs. The long white beam is used for turning the mill -

The ground floor section is called the roundhouse. We then went up the stairs to the main workings of the mill. The huge oak post -

In a post mill, the whole body of the mill turns around the central post. This post is supported by four quarter bars in the roundhouse.

The 3 m diameter brake wheel with 136 teeth -

This is a replica of the Glynde Wind Pump. lt is a restored, small hollow post-mill wind pump originally rescued from Glynde in 1988. It is modeled after a design used to pump water from trenches in northern France during the First World War. In Sussex it was probably used to irrigate fields.

The mill is open for tours on 2 Sundays a month from April to September.

See the website of High Salvington windmill.

See more on Wikipedia post mills and on the Sussex mills group.